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Archives for August 2025

Randy Moffitt Passes Away

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Former major league reliever Randy Moffitt passed away on Thursday at age 76, the Giants announced. According to an Associated Press report, Moffitt had battled an extended illness.

The younger brother of tennis legend Billie Jean King, Moffitt was a gifted athlete in his own right. San Francisco drafted him in the first round in 1970 out of Long Beach State. The Giants moved him to the bullpen after one minor league season. He reached the big leagues in 1972 and spent the remainder of the decade pitching towards the back of the San Francisco relief corps.

Moffitt recorded double digit save totals in each season from 1973-78. He had a pair of sub-3.00 ERA showings. Moffitt struck out 65 hitters with a 2.42 mark across 100 1/3 innings in 1973. He tossed a personal-high 103 frames of 2.27 ERA ball three seasons later. The 6’3″ righty remained in San Francisco until he was released in 1981. He finished his big league career with lone seasons for the Astros and Blue Jays.

Over a career spanning parts of 12 seasons, Moffitt turned in a 3.65 earned run average. He finished 306 of his 534 appearances, including 96 saves. Moffitt won 43 games and tallied 455 strikeouts. He made 459 appearances in a San Francisco uniform. Moffitt is sixth in franchise history in appearances, fifth in games finished, and ninth in saves. He’s a member of the organization’s Wall of Fame. MLBTR joins others around the game in sending condolences to his family, friends, loved ones and former teammates.

Mets Sticking With Six-Man Rotation

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The Mets are moving to a six-man rotation for the time being, manager Carlos Mendoza tells reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). That’ll keep Jonah Tong in the rotation after tonight’s debut. New York will operate with a seven-man bullpen for the next two games but will get an eighth reliever back when active rosters expand on Monday.

Tong worked five innings against the Marlins tonight. He gave up four runs, only one of which was earned after the Mets made a pair of errors in the fifth inning. Tong punched out six without issuing a walk while allowing six hits. Completing five innings was all he needed to do to pick up his first big league win. The Mets pounded Miami pitching for 19 runs in a blowout victory.

The Mets now have a pair of rookies in their starting staff. Nolan McLean, called up two weeks ago, has begun his big league career with a trio of fantastic starts. He fired eight scoreless innings against Philadelphia last time out and has allowed only two runs through his first 20 1/3 innings. David Peterson has been their best starter all year, while Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea are surely locked into rotation spots. It wouldn’t have made much sense to call Tong up just for a spot start.

Clay Holmes has a 4.38 ERA with a well below-average 15.8% strikeout rate in eight starts since the All-Star Break. He has only completed six innings once during that stretch. The Mets could’ve considered moving him to the bullpen, where he’ll probably end up in October if they hold onto a playoff spot. That’s not the plan for now, and Holmes is lined up to start in Detroit next Wednesday.

The Mets have a scheduled off day on Thursday. If they don’t make any adjustments to their six-man rotation, Tong’s second MLB start will come a week from now at Great American Ball Park. That’s shaping up to be a big series with the Reds representing the closest thing to a challenger in the Wild Card race. New York has pulled five games clear of Cincinnati, who have dropped four in a row at a very inopportune time.

The final month presents an evaluation opportunity for New York’s coaching staff and front office. They could go in a number of directions with a playoff rotation. Peterson is probably the favorite for a Game One start, but McLean and Tong each have a shot to convince the club that they’re worthy of a postseason start despite their inexperience.

Angels Re-Sign Connor Brogdon To Minor League Contract

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The Angels re-signed reliever Connor Brogdon on a minor league deal, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Brogdon, who had elected free agency last week after being designated for assignment, reports to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Los Angeles initially signed Brogdon to a minor league contract over the offseason. He had an ERA approaching 13.00 in Triple-A when the Angels nevertheless called him up in early May. Brogdon held an MLB bullpen spot for the next three months. He allowed 5.30 earned runs per nine over 37 1/3 innings. His strikeout, walk and home run rates were each on the wrong side of league average.

Brogdon looked like a potential leverage piece for the Phillies early in his career. He combined for a 3.36 ERA with solid strikeout and walk numbers in more than 100 innings between 2021-22. His numbers have tanked in the past few years (though he did collect a World Series ring last year after pitching one inning for the Dodgers in April). Brogdon still has a mid-90s fastball, and the Angels clearly still like him as a depth option. He’ll provide non-roster bullpen depth down the stretch.

Rays Re-Sign Logan Driscoll To Minor League Deal

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The Rays re-signed catcher Logan Driscoll to a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. Tampa Bay had released him a couple weeks ago. Driscoll has been battling an ankle injury and hasn’t played all year, and the Rays wanted to take him off the 40-man roster without paying him an MLB salary.

Driscoll, 27, is a former second-round draftee of the Padres. The Rays acquired him in a 2020 trade that sent Emilio Pagán to San Diego. Driscoll has spent six seasons in the system and got a brief major league look last season. He played in 15 games, batting .171 with one home run. The lefty hitter owns a solid .287/.362/.460 slash in 370 plate appearances over two seasons at Triple-A Durham.

Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia are splitting the major league catching reps. They’re now the only two catchers on the 40-man roster. Matt Thaiss, Tres Barrera and Dominic Keegan are all active for Triple-A Durham. Thaiss would probably be the choice if either Feduccia or Fortes suffer an injury before the end of the season. Tampa Bay will need to decide this offseason whether to add Keegan to the 40-man roster or expose him to the Rule 5 draft. The Vanderbilt product is hitting .239/.311/.383 in 52 Triple-A games.

Pirates Release Andrew Heaney

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August 29: Heaney has officially been released, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker.

August 26: The Pirates announced Tuesday that veteran left-hander Andrew Heaney has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to center fielder Oneil Cruz, who has been reinstated from the injured list. Pittsburgh also optioned infielder Ronny Simon to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalled right-handed reliever Dauri Moreta from Triple-A.

Heaney, who turned 34 in June, signed a one-year deal in the offseason, guaranteeing him $5.25MM. Early in the 2025 campaign, it looked like one of the best low-cost pickups of the winter by any team. The veteran southpaw raced out to a strong start, tossing 78 1/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball in his first 14 trips to the bump. Heaney posted a sharp 7.5% walk rate in that time, and while a pedestrian 18.5% strikeout rate and somewhat elevated 1.26 HR/9 mark pointed to some degree of regression — he had a 4.47 FIP and 4.51 SIERA in that time — the reckoning was more emphatic than anyone could’ve reasonably anticipated.

A pair of consecutive seven-run drubbings in mid-June proved to be the beginning of a two-month spiral from which Heaney simply hasn’t been able to recover. Over his past 42 innings, he’s been trounced for 43 earned runs (9.21 ERA) with just a 12.1% strikeout rate. Opponents have averaged a staggering 2.79 home runs per nine innings pitched during that span.

The Pirates recently demoted Heaney to the bullpen, but the change in roles didn’t prove beneficial. He’s surrendered six runs in 1 1/3 innings across his two most recent relief outings, including five runs in just two-thirds of an inning last night.

Some onlookers might cynically liken Heaney’s DFA to the Pirates’ much-maligned 2024 decision to designate Rowdy Tellez for assignment when he was just four plate appearances shy of a $200K bonus. Given the prolonged nature of Heaney’s struggles, this looks to be a much different scenario. In fact, last night’s two-thirds of an inning proved to be just enough to push Heaney over 120 innings on the season (120 1/3 overall), which unlocked a $50K bonus.

Had the Pirates kept trotting him out there, Heaney could’ve unlocked further incentives. (He’d have taken home another $100K at 130 innings and $150K at 140 innings pitched.) However, based on his past two months, there’s no incentive for the team to keep giving him opportunities. Heaney had ample opportunity to pull himself out of the slump and wasn’t able to do so. In the end, he’ll wind up earning $5.3MM this contract, and the innings that would’ve gone to him will instead go to younger arms whom the Bucs can control beyond the current season.

Pittsburgh surely tried to find a trade partner prior to the deadline, but even then, Heaney was riding a streak of 28 runs surrendered in his past 28 2/3 innings. He’d been tagged for 15 home runs in his past 50 innings. It’s easy to imagine most teams seeking pitching felt they could get comparable or better results simply sticking in house.

With Heaney now off the 40-man roster, he’ll be placed on waivers. It’s largely irrelevant whether that’ll be outright waivers or release waivers, as it’s unlikely anyone will claim the remaining $932K on his contract after struggles of this magnitude, and he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while retaining the remainder of his guaranteed salary. Barring what would be a very surprising claim, he’ll be a free agent within the next few days. He could latch on with a new club as pitching depth for the final month of the season and could technically be postseason-eligible if he signs with a new team prior to Sept. 1 — though he’d obviously have to turn things around in a hurry to be considered for a spot on anyone’s October rosters.

Randy Rodriguez Recommended To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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A breakout season for Giants reliever Randy Rodríguez has come to an unfortunate end. The team announced that multiple doctors have recommended the All-Star righty undergo Tommy John surgery (relayed by Justice delos Santos of The Mercury News). Rodríguez will make his decision this weekend, but it’s tough to see this going any other way.

The procedure will almost certainly cost him the entire 2026 season. Rodríguez had taken over the ninth inning after San Francisco traded Camilo Doval to the Yankees at the deadline. He would’ve been the favorite for the closer role going into next year. The 25-year-old turned in a 1.78 earned run average while striking out more than a third of opponents over 50 appearances. He collected his first four career saves and picked up 13 holds.

There are 102 pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings out of the bullpen this season. Rodríguez is seventh among that group in ERA and eighth in strikeout percentage. He has the fifth-highest gap between his strikeout and walk rates. He’s among the top 30 relievers in swinging strikes. He had emerged as one of the league’s best young relievers.

Elbow injuries have been the only real concern over his first two big league seasons. Rodríguez missed six weeks in the second half of the ’24 campaign to elbow inflammation. He avoided surgery at the time, and his 97-98 MPH fastball and wipeout slider carried him through the first five months of this season. An elbow sprain sent him back to the injured list this week, and it seems the ligament damage is severe enough that he’ll need to go under the knife.

Rodríguez entered this season with 148 days of service time. He picked up a full service year in 2025 and will do the same in ’26, assuming he indeed undergoes surgery and spends the entire season on the injured list. He’ll qualify for arbitration for the first of four times as a Super Two player during the 2026-27 offseason. The Giants will need to carry him on the 40-man roster over the offseason but can place him on the 60-day injured list at the beginning of Spring Training.

The injury is a massive hit to a bullpen that already looked like a weakness going into the offseason. Ryan Walker, who will finish this season in the closer role, has had a strong second half after a rocky start. He’ll be back in high-leverage spots. José Buttó, acquired from the Mets in the Tyler Rogers trade, will be in the setup mix. They’re the only two locks.

Joel Peguero has huge stuff but has made three career appearances. Journeyman lefty Matt Gage has pitched well, yet he’s a 32-year-old without big velocity. Erik Miller, their top left-hander in the season’s first half, has been rehabbing an elbow sprain of his own. The Giants could look at putting Hayden Birdsong back into the bullpen after he struggled to throw strikes as a starter. Even if they do that, they’ll need to add multiple arms from outside the organization during the winter.

Drew Millas Undergoes Finger Surgery

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August 29: Millas underwent season-ending surgery on his left index finger, interim manager Miguel Cairo tells reporters (including Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com). He’s expected to be ready for Spring Training.

August 27: The Nationals announced today that catcher Drew Millas has been diagnosed with a fracture and dislocation of his left second finger. He had been removed from today’s game after Austin Wells made contact with his hand on a swing.

At this point, it’s unclear how much time Millas is expected to miss, but a stint on the injured list feels assured. That will inevitably lead to a roster move of some kind. Millas and Riley Adams are the only two healthy catchers on the 40-man roster right now.

Keibert Ruiz is currently on the concussion IL. His last game was July 5th and he still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Just over a week ago, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com provided an update on Ruiz. He had begun doing some first base drills, not for a positional switch, but just to get him on the field and tracking baseballs without putting him at any real risk of exacerbating his situation.

The Ruiz injury opened up playing time for Millas and he had been making the most of it. He has a .313/.365/.458 slash line in 54 plate appearances this year. He likely wasn’t going to hit at that level forever but it’s nonetheless frustrating for him to have this injury get in the way of his progress.

The Nats are off on Thursday but will need to provide Adams with a backup by Friday. Their non-roster options aren’t terribly inspiring. Francisco Mejia in in Triple-A and has major league experience but he’s hitting .178/.222/.287 this year. CJ Stubbs and Brady Lindsly are also non-roster options but they have no major league experience and are also having poor seasons. Stubbs has a .148/.279/.240 line this year and Lindsly’s is .137/.267/.216.

Perhaps the Nats could look to find a catcher outside the organization. The trade deadline has passed but deals can still happen under certain conditions, such as for players on minor league deals that have not been selected to the majors this year. The Nationals could therefore try to trade for someone like Jakson Reetz of the Orioles, Payton Henry of the Phillies or Brian Serven of the Tigers.

It’s also possible that some catchers end up on waivers this week. Late August is a popular time for waiver activity. That’s due to the fact that a player claimed in September is not postseason eligible with his new club. For clubs falling out of contention who would like to save some money, this time of the year is the best to put a guy on the wire and hope another club grabs his contract. Though for the Nats, they may not want to spend thousands of dollars for a Band-Aid in a lost season.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Recall Jordan Lawlar

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have recalled infielder Jordan Lawlar and left-hander Brandyn Garcia. First baseman Pavin Smith has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 28th, due to a strained left squad. Right-hander Taylor Rashi has been optioned to Triple-A Reno in the other corresponding move.

Lawlar, now 23, has been one of the top prospects in baseball for a while now. He forced his way up to the majors late in 2023, just after his 21st birthday. However, he didn’t immediately hit the ground running, producing a .129/.206/.129 line in is first 34 plate appearances. The Snakes were in contention then and weren’t in a position to just throw him out there as an experiment.

Going into 2024, the Diamondbacks weren’t quite ready to just hand him a big league job, given his youth and those numbers. They already had Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte at the middle infield spots. They could have tried Lawlar at third base but instead acquired Eugenio Suárez from the Mariners. At the time, he had one guaranteed year remaining on his contract.

Lawlar could have forced his way into taking the job from Suárez, especially when Geno struggled badly early in 2024. However, Lawlar required thumb surgery in March and was out of action for several months. Then a hamstring injury cost him more time. He would only play 23 minor league games that year. Meanwhile, Suárez had such a strong surge in the second half that the Snakes picked up his $15MM option for 2025.

That left Lawlar fairly blocked for big league playing time this year. He did his best to unblock things, as he slashed .336/.413/.579 in Triple-A through mid-May and basically forced the Snakes to call him up. They believed that they could spread the playing time around but it didn’t really work out. He was recalled on May 12th but optioned back down on May 29th. In that stretch of barely over two weeks, he got into eight games and received 22 plate appearances. He didn’t take to the sporadic playing time, not recording a hit in that span.

The Diamondbacks fell out of contention and sold at the deadline, which included sending Suárez back to the Mariners. Ideally, Lawlar would have come up to take over at the hot corner but he had suffered a hamstring strain in late June. He got back on the field a couple of weeks back. After ten Triple-A games to get back in shape, he’s now coming up.

The Snakes can now use the final month of the season to finally give Lawlar some regular big league playing time and see how he handles it. His performance could then impact their offseason moves. He will still have one option season after this one, so they don’t have to give him the job in 2026. However, he doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors, so it’s probably time to let him sink or swim in the show.

That’s perhaps especially true given the club’s other priorities. Arizona traded away impending free agent Merrill Kelly at the deadline. Zac Gallen is still on the club for now but is an impending free agent himself. Corbin Burnes is had Tommy John surgery and will miss at least part of 2026. The bullpen lost Justin Martínez and A.J. Puk to UCL surgeries. The front office will definitely be looking for pitching this winter. Outfield upgrades might also be on the menu, given the struggles of Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy.

With all of that going on, the front office might lean towards going into 2026 with Lawlar and Blaze Alexander competing for the third base job, as opposed to spending money or prospect capital to bring in someone else.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Padres Place Xander Bogaerts On IL With Foot Fracture

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The Padres announced that shortstop Xander Bogaerts has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a non-displaced fracture in his left foot. Shortstop Mason McCoy has been recalled in a corresponding move. Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres think Bogaerts has a chance to be back for the postseason, which implies he will miss the remainder of the regular season.

The Friars haven’t yet announced how Bogaerts injured himself but it seems likely it happened on Wednesday. As seen in this clip from MLB.com, Bogaerts fouled a ball of himself in the eighth inning and collapsed in pain. He managed to stay in that game and then the Friars were off yesterday, but it seems they did some recent testing that found the fracture.

Bogaerts isn’t quite the same hitter he was at this peak but is still a solid everyday player. His .262/.330/.387 batting line this year translates to a 103 wRC+, just 3% above league average, but he has 20 stolen bases and seven Outs Above Average at shortstop. Despite the tepid offense, FanGraphs has credited him with three wins above replacement this year.

The options to cover shortstop in his absence are far less inspiring. Veteran Jose Iglesias will probably get the bulk of the playing time there now. He’s a solid defender but is hitting just .228/.303/.276 this year. McCoy is also considered strong with the glove but has a .182/.250/.218 line in 63 big league plate appearances. His Triple-A work is better but still not great. His .265/.341/.413 line since the start of 2024 translates to a wRC+ of 80 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

That’s a notable drop-off for a club still playing meaningful baseball. The Padres are trying to chase down the Dodgers in the National League West, currently just two games back. They are holding onto the second Wild Card spot, seven games clear of the Reds, the top team not in playoff position. Their odds of making the postseason are still good but no club wants to lose its starting shortstop going into the stretch run. It also sounds like it’s not a guarantee that Bogaerts is back by October.

With the trade deadline having passed a month ago, the Padres have fewer options for finding external solutions. It’s possible they find an upgrade they like on waivers. For instance, the Pirates have reportedly put infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the wire. The Padres could grab him and he would be postseason eligible if claimed prior to September 1st, though doing so would mean taking on the roughly $1.21MM still remaining on his contract. That’s not a huge amount in the larger context of MLB payrolls but the Friars have been dealing with a tight budget for years now.

It’s possible that other players have been put on waivers without reporting reaching the public, though teams are usually making such players available as a way to try to save money, so those other guys might have similar salary obligations to Kiner-Falefa.

Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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Anthony Franco

  • Hey everyone, hope you've enjoyed your week! Looking forward to another of these, let's get going

Dave Dombrowski

  • How much has Kyle Schwarber raised his salary now? Does 4/140 keep him in Philly and away from FA? Does the uncertainty regarding Wheeler push me to make a strong offer to Ranger Suarez? And will there be enough left to resign JTR, the real rock of the pitching staff? Do you think that John Middleton will back a payroll approaching $400M?

Anthony Franco

  • Yeah I have to imagine 4/140 would get it done before he hits the market. Still don't see Philly going to 35M annually especially at their luxury tax status, but I do think he's got a shot at five years that could approach that guarantee
  • DH who is soon to be 33 is a profile the market hates but Schwarber's pretty clearly in a different tier from the Santander/Teoscar group. You could point to Alonso's quiet market last year as a counterargument, but Schwarber's walk year is so much better than Alonso's 2024
  • I don't think the Wheeler injury dramatically changes things on Ranger. Never seemed all that likely to me that they'd re-sign him for nine figures, even after trading Abel. I think they're just more likely to be in on an Adrian Houser type who can serve as a fifth starter or long man once Painter is in the rotation

Slick

  • Are the Nationals looking at another five years of rebuilding?  From top to bottom this team appears to be in disarray.

Anthony Franco

  • I'm not as pessimistic on a core with Wood, Abrams, Gore, etc. but based on Steve's forthcoming Front Office post this week, I think he's more in your camp
  • He's about to drop like 2000 words on this topic

Mariners

  • What are your thoughts on the Robles suspension? Fair? Too long? Too short?

Anthony Franco

  • Start at 10, drop to seven seems fine. I feel like Contreras should have been at that level as well though, so I guess you could argue it's inconsistent

Chris

  • More likely to rebound in 2026: Braves or Orioles?

Anthony Franco

  • Tough one. I think I'd take Baltimore. Atlanta's got more high-end talent coming back, especially on the pitching staff, but they're probably going to put a lot on Sale, Schwellenbach and López to stay healthy in a way that concerns me
  • The O's have a lot of heavy lifting to do this offseason, especially in the bullpen, but I think they're a little more well equipped to navigate 162 with in-house depth

JeffyM82

  • Bo Bichette 2025 total hits over/under Bo Bichette total free agent contract (millions).  Where are you putting your money? Bo Currently has 169 hits with 28 games remaining.

Anthony Franco

  • Ha yeah I'll take the hits. I like this one though, reasonable argument either way

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